2015 vs. 2014: Which winter is colder (updated)?

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Morning low temperatures, 2/23/15

2015 vs. 2014: Which winter is colder (updated)?

Morning low temperatures, 2/23/15

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The winter of 2013-14 brought back memories of some of the coldest ever recorded in West Michigan, being compared to frigid winters like 1993-94 and those of the late 1970s.

In addition, last winter set some astounding marks for things like snowfall, snow depth, and ice cover on the Great Lakes.

Lower snowfall has meant that winter has, perhaps, seemed a bit less severe than last year around West Michigan. However, the extent of Arctic air and lack of any significant thaw since early January is reminiscent of the coldest weather we saw in 2014.

Last Monday, we compared a number of statistics and found that 2014 was still quite a bit colder than the same period of 2015. But after another week of extreme cold, we decided to run the same numbers once again.

So, here are some updated stats comparing the stretches between January 1 and February 22 this season and last:

Statistic

2014

2015

Average High

25.9

25.7

Average Low

11.2

11.2

Snowfall

66.0″

41.3″

Overall Max Temp

44

43

Overall Min Temp

-9

-13

Days w/ High 32° or lower

41

39

Days w/ High below 20°

17

14

Days w/ High below 10°

2

2

Days w/ High 40° or higher

7

1

Days w/ Low below 10°

25

22

Days w/ Low below 0°

7

7

Last week at this time, 2014 was still colder; now, this year is nearly identical to last. And with another very cold week ahead, it is likely that this month will end up becoming the coldest February on record in Grand Rapids.